Circular to Banks and the National Office of Posts No. 2023-07 dated December 1, 2023

Tunisia, December 1, 2023
Circular to Banks and the National Office of Posts No. 07 for 2023 Subject: Special Accounts for the Election Campaign in favor of Candidates for Local Council Elections.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, having examined:

• Law No. 23 of 2012 dated December 20, 2012 concerning the Independent High Authority for Elections and all subsequent amending texts;
• Law No. 16 of 2014 dated May 26, 2014 concerning elections and referendums and all subsequent amending texts, particularly Decree No. 8 of 2023 dated March 8, 2023;
• Law No. 35 of 2016 dated April 25, 2016 concerning the basic system of the Central Bank of Tunisia;
• Law No. 48 of 2016 dated July 11, 2016 concerning banks and financial institutions;
• Decree No. 10 of 2023 dated March 8, 2023 concerning the organization of local council elections and the composition of regional councils and provincial councils;
• Decision No. 20 of 2014 dated August 8, 2014 concerning the regulation of election campaign financing rules, procedures, and methods as amended by subsequent texts, particularly Decision No. 12 of 2023 dated November 15, 2023;
• Decision No. 7 of 2023 dated September 22, 2023 concerning the schedule for local council member elections and the lottery process to select disabled local council deputies for 2023, as amended by Decision No. 10 of 2023 dated November 1, 2023;
• Opinion No. 7 of 2023 dated November 30, 2023 issued by the Compliance Monitoring Committee as stipulated in Article 42 of Law No. 35 of 2016 concerning the basic system of the Central Bank of Tunisia,
  has decided as follows:

Chapter 1: Banks and the National Office of Posts must, from the date this Circular enters into force until December 22, 2023, open a single special election campaign account for each candidate for local council elections. The account shall be opened upon the request of the candidate or any other person by means of a specific power of attorney authenticated by the candidate's signature. The candidate or, if appointed, the financial agent shall manage, operate, and close this single special election campaign account in accordance with prevailing regulations. The candidate or financial agent must initiate the closure of this single special election campaign account within a maximum period of 15 days from the date the final results of the last electoral round in which the candidate participated are announced. In all cases, this single special election campaign account shall be automatically closed no later than April 30, 2024. In such cases, banks and financial institutions must secure any existing credit balance within a maximum of three banking working days by transferring it to the Tunisian Public Treasury in the name of each entitled party, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Banks and the National Office of Posts are prohibited from opening more than one special election campaign account for each candidate.

Chapter 2: Before opening the single special election campaign account, banks and the National Office of Posts must verify through the Central Bank of Tunisia's data exchange system that no other special election campaign account exists under the candidate's name.

Chapter 3: The special election campaign account shall be opened in accordance with prevailing regulations and based on the following documents:

1. Original or a certified copy of the Independent High Authority for Elections' decision accepting the candidacy of the concerned person;
2. A copy of the official document proving the candidate's identity;
3. In case a financial agent is appointed to operate the account:
   • Original or certified copy of the candidate's decision appointing the financial agent, authenticated by signature;
   • Original or certified copy of the financial agent's acceptance, authenticated by signature, to assume the role of financial agent for the candidate;
   • A copy of the official document proving the identity of the candidate's financial agent;
     3a. Original or certified copy of the power of attorney for opening the special election campaign account on behalf of the candidate (in case a proxy is appointed to open the account), according to the model downloaded from the website of the Independent High Authority for Elections;
4. A copy of the official document proving the identity of the proxy appointed to open the special election campaign account on behalf of the candidate.

Chapter 4: The special election campaign account shall be funded exclusively by the following resources:

1. Dinar transfers originating from:
   • The candidate's internal accounts, as self-financing;
   • The internal accounts of Tunisian natural persons residing in Tunisia under tax legislation, as special financing for the candidate's election campaign.
2. Financial amounts deposited by the candidate or their financial agent as self-financing or special financing, in cash or by checks. In this case, the reverse side of the deposit slip must clearly state the full identity of the candidate or financial agent (first name, last name, national ID card number, and date of issue), along with the latter's signature.
   Transfers from legal entities of all kinds, as well as from foreign natural persons (even if residing in Tunisia or with income sourced in Tunisia under tax legislation), are prohibited.
   The bank branch or post office where the special election campaign account is opened must provide the candidate or their financial agent with a single withdrawal card limited to the available balance and facilitate all necessary financial operations for campaign financing, such as transfers and other related transactions.

Chapter 5: The granting of any overdraft facility to the special election campaign account, or the provision of advances of any kind to the candidate holding the account, is prohibited. Furthermore, the balance of the special election campaign account must not be in deficit (debit).

Chapter 6: Banks and the National Office of Posts must declare to the Central Bank of Tunisia without delay all operations involving the opening of a special election campaign account in accordance with this Circular, via the Central Bank's data exchange system.

Chapter 7: Banks and the National Office of Posts must initially provide the Central Bank of Tunisia with interim statements for special election campaign accounts for local council elections, from their opening date to the end of the election campaign, within a maximum period of 15 days from the campaign's conclusion. In a second phase, they must provide final statements for these accounts, covering the period from opening to closure, within a maximum of 15 days from closure. The aforementioned statements must be submitted to the Central Bank of Tunisia on a paper document signed and stamped by an authorized representative of the bank or National Office of Posts, containing a table with account numbers, the candidate's name, and available balances, as well as electronically via the Central Bank's data exchange system in Excel format. Additionally, upon account closure, banks and the National Office of Posts must retrieve the withdrawal card from the candidate or financial agent and take necessary measures to complete ongoing transactions related to said account.

Chapter 8: Banks and the National Office of Posts must appoint a liaison officer for the Central Bank of Tunisia from among their management staff at the rank of director or higher, responsible for overseeing the implementation of duties stipulated in this Circular, particularly resolving difficulties that may arise for the candidate or financial agent when opening and managing special election campaign accounts, addressing them promptly, collecting required data regarding election accounts from bank branches and post offices, and submitting it to the Central Bank of Tunisia within deadlines. A deputy liaison officer meeting the same conditions must also be appointed. Banks and the National Office of Posts must promptly provide the Central Bank of Tunisia with the full identity, phone number, and email address of the liaison officer and their deputy through any means that leave a written record.

Chapter 9: Banks and the National Office of Posts must retain files for election accounts, along with all documents related to their opening, management, and closure, as well as supporting documents for transactions conducted through them, for a period of ten years from the date of closure.

Chapter 10: The provisions of this Circular shall enter into force from the date of its publication.

Governor,
Marouane Abassi